Paddy procurement in Odisha at 3000 centres from Nov 15

Odisha government will open 3000 centres for procurement of Kharif season paddy from November 15, a high-level meeting held here decided today.

The government aims to procure 23 lakh MT of paddy during kharif and another 7 lakh MT during Rabi season this year and would revise the target should the need arise, official sources said.

The amount would be transferred directly to the bank accounts of farmers for which 100 more Paddy Procurement Automation System (P-PAS) used for transferring payments directly to farmers’ accounts would be issued to ensure that the money transfer process is not delayed.

The decisions were announced today in a meeting organised by the Food Supplies and Consumer Welfare Department with representatives of farmers and millers here.

Addressing newsmen outside the conference, Food Supplies and Consumer Welfare Minister Sanjay Dasburma urged the farmers to sell their crops at the procurement centres instead of directly selling it to millers. Besides, he assured that the state government will write to the Union government to increase the Minimum Support Price (MSP) of the crops.

“I urge the farmers to bring their crops to the procurement centres so that they are able to sell at the MSP fixed by the government. I have received some complaints that in some cases farmers are directly selling to the millers. I would study these complaints,” said Dasburma.

“I have organized three division level meetings with Collectors starting November 4, where I would discuss the outcome of today’s meeting. We are taking necessary steps to coordinate between the Food Supplies and Consumer Welfare, Agriculture and the Cooperation Department to ensure a smooth procurement,” he added.

The miller and farmer representatives present in the meeting, however, demanded better implementation of schemes.

“There are a lot of discrepancies in registering the farmers. We do not have a website for them. The problems are many. Besides, the policies are at their place and what is implemented on the ground is completely different. We demanded that whatever policy the government decides, they should be properly implemented,” said Dipti Ranjan Praharaj, a farmer.